All’s fair with fare in rodeo’s food war
Norma Bowers gets her best ideas at night — in bed, right before her fluttering eyelids carry her to sleep. It’s the perfect time, she said, to contemplate what food she can dunk in batter and plunge in hot oil. It’s a moment to dream big about what will make the sweetest, gooiest, most lip-smacking carnival indulgences at the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo, the world’s largest rodeo.
“That’s when the genius happens,” said the coowner of the Dallas-based Fried What! company that will make its sixth appearance at the rodeo this week serving up wacky deep-fried treats. “Right before I go to sleep I let my mind go crazy.”
Where did her crazy thoughts carry her in preparation for feeding
rodeo-goers looking for the wildest fried foods? She has three new confections this year: a deepfried pecan pie; a “Dreamsicle Twinkie” (she’s keeping the components to herself); and Peeps on a Stick — a deep-fried row of rainbow-hued marshmallow chicks hiding under a crispy batter coating.
Her new enticements are indicative of the imagination and innovation that go into fair fare. Rodeo food vendors and concessionaires toil all year to create new and better sweet and savory goodies — many on a stick — that they hope customers won’t forget. Or better yet, keep them coming back for more during the three-week rodeo run that begins Tuesday and may again set attendance records. (Last year more than 2.5 million visitors came).
A foodie generation
Midway food has grown since the days of simple salted popcorn, beehive cotton candy and molar-endangering candy apples. Today’s carnival patrons demand excess and extravagance. And Texans, who already are used to supersized everything, perhaps expect even more when it comes to rodeo food.
“I call it the foodie boomer generation. A lot of us grew up with the Food Network. The interest in foods and restaurants has made us up our game to create interesting flavors and textures appealing to customers who have a discerning palate,” said Dominic Palmieri, owner of Midway Gourmet, a Phoenix company that operates seven concessions at RodeoHouston and is making its 19th appearance as a food vendor.
Houston’s rodeo has the distinction of being an event where gourmet concessions are expected, Palmieri said. Because it is one of the first big events in the national fair circuit calendar, it’s also a place where vendors debut products. “Concessionaires get more creative here,” he said. “If it works at the rodeo, then we can use it the rest of the year.”
He has deep-fried KoolAid; he’s put 2-foot-long sausages on a stick; he’s also served up 2-pound beef ribs on the bone that resemble swords. Last year Palmieri brought in bacon-flavored cotton candy. Don’t ask him about deep-frying cotton candy, though, a failed idea that remains a sore subject.
This year he has a new drink item he’s keeping secret until the official opening. He also must have had the same dreams as Norma Bowers: He, too, has planned a deep-fried pecan pie.
“When you fry it, it has a great texture profile. It’s not like a cake or a pie. It’s in between. It’s delicious,” he said. “We do our research every year. We analyze the trends. We look at what the customer is looking for. I don’t’ think there’s another state in the country that eats more pecan pie or sweet pecan treats.”
Whether it’s pie or curly fries or turkey legs, the rodeo division overseeing food wants fair-goers to have it all.
“We look for what’s unique and different, fun stuff that will appeal to the public and sell well,” said Elizabeth Greer, executive director of exhibits and attractions. About 60 food vendors operate the concessions at RodeoHouston, dishing up millions of dollars worth of stuff doctors may say is bad for the body but patrons can’t get enough of. Carnival food grossed $7.7 million in sales last year, with prices ranging from $6 and $15.
An additional $8.4 million in sales was posted by commercial exhibitors selling food outside the footprint of the carnival — in the tents outside Reliant Center, in Reliant Arena and inside Reliant Center.
Bragging rights
Rodeo food vendors are a competitive bunch. Each year they try to win bragging rights by participating in the Gold Buckle Foodie Awards organized by the Rodeo to recognize the best foods and flavors at the fair.
Last year Custom Confections, a mobile bakery based in Cypress, won first place in the “Most Creative Food” category with its Red Velvet Frosty Bite — a red velvet cupcake stuffed with vanilla ice cream. In 2011, Custom Confections took first in the same category for its Lemon Cream Frosty Bite, which may say something about the public’s appetite for cupcakes.
Kimberly Revis, who operates the business with her husband, Tony, said they’re ready to win again in the Best Fried Food category with their Fried Bananas Foster dessert: a battered, deep-fried banana drizzled with a brown sugar/cinnamon/rum sauce (“Or, as we call it, ‘happiness’ ”) and served with vanilla ice cream and whipped cream.
The Revises are experts at gilding the lily. They have also created a chocolate chip cookie ice cream sandwich that also sports a slab of brownie between the cookie bookends.
“We’re always looking for new things. We get excited about it,” Kimberly Revis said. “People at the Rodeo want a little bit of everything. They’re looking for something good, but they’re also looking for fun. And something on a stick.”
But even masters of batter and hot oil can have off-days. Bowers, who proudly claims “there’s nothing I can’t fry,” admits to a few defeats. Dippin Dots got the best of her. “That was the biggest mess I’ve ever had in my life,” she said. “It was like chemistry class as soon as I put them in the batter and the fryer. It foamed over the top. It was horrible.”
And though she has fried both Kool-Aid and watermelon, those were not her proudest moments. This year the Peeps barely squeaked into her repertoire. But she has high hopes for deep-fried sugared marshmallow blobs: “I’m going to make it happen!”